


Family Bonding

by BibiannaOddey1850



Series: Aurora Van der Linde Drabbles [2]
Category: Red Dead Redemption
Genre: Arthur was an Angry Boi, Dutch could be a great Dad, Family Drama, Family Feels, Gen, Hosea is still tired af, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Writing Exercise, Young!Arthur Morgan, don't tell me Arthur doesn't cry when he's angry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 10:16:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17119460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BibiannaOddey1850/pseuds/BibiannaOddey1850
Summary: They were family through and through.And Arthur didn't want to lose that a second time.





	Family Bonding

_"Now, we won't be long," said Dutch. "It's just the usual stagecoach robbery, we'll be back before Aurora could even say her first word."_

That was three hours ago, and Arthur was starting to worry that something terrible must have happened to them. He knew the consequences of their actions. Hell, he reminded himself every day that he'd probably breathe his last breath at any given moment, if he wasn't too careful. But he wasn't the type to intentionally knock on Death's door because he felt like doing so.

"Ah!" A burble startled him out of his thoughts. He glanced back at Aurora, who was sitting up in the middle of the hotel bed. She was an easy target to see, no thanks to the gaudy yellow dress that Miss Grimshaw wrestled her into. A soft bonnet kept her ebony hair out of her chubby face, while her wide brown eyes were staring straight at him.

"Ah!" She babbled and leaned forward to crawl her way over to the only adult in the room.

"Whatever it is you want from me, I don't have it," said the eighteen-year-old boy.

"Ah! Ah!"

Then, without warning, Aurora planted her face onto the duvet and cried. Arthur panicked. He never knew what to do whenever Dutch's baby girl started bawling. His only solution was to stuff his ears with cotton and wait for the calamity to pass.

And now here he was in the gist of it.

"Why couldn't you have stayed asleep until Dutch came back?" His response was another loud cry that shook her tiny body.

Then, there was a resounding knock coming from the room next door. "Hey! Keep it down! I'm tryin' to sleep!"

Arthur wanted to retort, but he knew that shouting back will do him no good. Not when Aurora was at her most sensitive moment. She stuffed her little fist into her mouth, successfully muffling her sobs, but it created a massive mess of spit as she cried around it. Arthur almost gagged. Almost.

"Come on, you probably need to go outside."

At that, Dutch would have reprimanded him and said, _"My daughter isn't some kind of dog, Arthur. But yes, take her outside. The fresh air will do her good."_

Arthur held the baby close to him as he made his way out of the hotel, bowing his head so that his hat obscured his face. Once they were out on the porch, however, Aurora did the unimaginable.

**_Slap, slap, slap_ **

The young boy looked at her in disbelief. She was hitting him with her saliva-covered hand. At least she stopped crying; her new form of amusement involved smothering her caretaker with infant dribble.

_**Slap, slap, slap** _

"Now, you better stop that!" Arthur sneered, his temper getting the best of him. Another slap. "I said stop!"

Startled by his outburst, Aurora cried anew, with fat tears rolling down her flushed cheeks. Arthur panicked yet again. He remembered Dutch swaying her in his arms during one of her episodes, so he did just that. But Aurora was squeamish with him; twisting about in his grasp, she suddenly raised her arms, making it difficult for Arthur to hold her properly.

"What? You missin' your daddy or somethin'?"

The baby cried further.

"Well, tough luck, 'cause he always has to leave! How the hell do you think we have the means to feed your sorry mouth?"

There was no reply, just more weeping coming from Aurora. Before long, he felt tears welling up, shrouding his vision. He closed his eyes shut, and ambled down the sodden streets. Arthur didn't stop until he was at the outskirts. He didn't notice Aurora had ceased crying long enough to stare up at him in innocent wonder.

"What am I gonna do, Rory?"

"Ah!"

"Dutch, Hosea, Bessie, and Susan...they're out there somewhere."

"Ah! Ah!"

"I don't...I don't wanna be lost again. And I don't want the same thing to happen to you too."

"Ahh!" Aurora exclaimed with conviction. Arthur had to laugh at that.

Arthur stared deeply into her eyes, admiring the slight curve of her eyelashes as she blinked up at him. He gazed into them for a while longer, and then Aurora's attention was caught by something shiny to their right. He felt the shotgun being pressed against the side of his head.

"Put your hands up where I can see 'em," said the bandit.

Arthur pressed Aurora to his side while he raised his available hand. He cursed himself for leaving his guns back at the hotel. The bandit started to pat him down, coming up with only three dollars and a few cents. Then, his greedy eyes landed on the silver bracelet Aurora had.

"Hand me that fine piece of silver, and then I'll let the two of you go easy."

"You ain't foolin' anyone, mister. I know people like you. I know you won't keep to your word and you'll shoot me with no remorse once I have my back turned," Arthur growled. There was a knife hidden in his boot, but the chances are slim, especially with Aurora present.

"Might as well pry it off the girl's dead body then," said the bandit so casually.

"You sick son of a bitch!"

"Arthur, get down!"

The said boy did as he was told, cradling Aurora's head as he huddled down to the ground. Bullets zipped through the air over him; he could feel the soft breaths of Aurora as she cried the third time that day. But he was thankful for her wails now, because he realized they were both still breathing. The bandit, who was now riddled with bullet holes, fell with a sickening plunk.

"You alright, son? And Aurora?"

Arthur felt familiar hands helping him back on his feet, and he was relieved to see the faces of Dutch and Hosea. They looked as if they had gone through a predicament of their own, but he was thankful, nonetheless, that they were alive too.

"We're fine. The little one's shakin' a bit, but she's fine."

"That's good," said Dutch. Then his expression changed, and Arthur knew what he was coming. "What in the hell possessed you to leave the hotel when I specifically instructed you to stay with Aurora until we got back?!"

"I got worried!" Arthur countered, his own voice rising in volume.

"That's enough, you two are frightening the poor child!" Hosea interjected and took Aurora from Arthur. "Dear God, she's running a fever."

At that statement, Arthur started to feel bad for everything he had done. He watched as Hosea cradled Aurora in one arm, and then gently opened her mouth with a clean thumb.

"Well, no wonder! Her first pair of teeth!" Hosea exclaimed, showing off the pearly whites growing out of her gums.

"I stand corrected. We should've been back before Aurora grew teeth!" Dutch laughed and mildly pinched his daughter's cheek.

"Ahh!" Aurora smacked her father's hand away from her face, and then scowled.

* * *

When the men returned to the hotel, Aurora was rapidly whisked away by Bessie and Susan, who fussed over the dirt that sullied her dress. Apparently, the gang got away with five hundred dollars from the stagecoach robbery. And with Dutch at the lead, they decided to go for another one for extra money. It didn't go well since the passengers were armed.

"It's been a tough day for all of us," Dutch declared, opening a bottle of whiskey to celebrate another job well done. "Still, we made it back, and now my daughter's steadily growing up. I'm proud of everyone."

Drinks were served, and they even ordered a full meal from the hotel which actually filled their bellies for once. After arguing a bit with Susan, Dutch managed to have Aurora all to himself for the rest of the evening. Arthur pondered how the older man was able to adjust his entire life for the little girl. The baby in question was currently distracted by the chain of Dutch's pocket watch.

"So, Arthur, care to explain why you got held up at gunpoint?" Dutch inquired, moving to take out a cigarette, but thought better of it when he felt Aurora rest her head in the crook of his arm.

"I..." Arthur licked at his dry lips and fidgeted, "I wanted to go look for you guys."

Hosea nodded sagely as he took a sip of whiskey. "And what made you think it was fine to take Aurora with you?"

"Look, I said I was worried, alright? You said it was an easy stagecoach robbery; that all of you would be back by then. And Aurora wouldn't stop crying her heart out. I couldn't leave her there either, not since..."

Dutch raised a hand to stop him. "Okay, son, I understand. But next time, if ever something bad does happen to us, you take Aurora and run. It don't matter where you go, just as long as the little one is safe."

"Mmpaah!" Aurora added. She was about to put the silver chain in her mouth when Hosea plucked her from Dutch's lap.

"Bessie said she'll need something to chew on to alleviate the pain. And no, Arthur, beef jerky will not help."

Arthur rolled his eyes at Hosea's joke and downed his glass of whiskey. Dutch chuckled into his drink, whereas Aurora was busy picking at the buttons on Hosea's jacket. Then, with the quickness of a gunslinger, she turned to look at her father and exclaimed:

"Papa!"

Immediately after she said her first word, Dutch choked on his drink. Arthur patted his back several times until he was certain that he could speak properly. All the while, Aurora and Hosea were enjoying the moment.

"I knew it! I wasn't wrong!" Dutch coughed a few more times, much to Aurora's amusement. "I knew we'd be back before Aurora could say her first word!"

"Does that mean we'll have another round of drinks to celebrate?" Arthur asked with hopefulness in his slurred sentence.

"No, Arthur." Dutch and Hosea replied in unison, which sent Aurora into a fit of giggles.

_"Atha! Atha! Atha!"_

**Author's Note:**

> When you're tired af like Hosea Matthews but you still force yourself to have a lollipop while you're lying in bed
> 
> Relatable y'all


End file.
